Sandoval reaches out to both parties
Brian Sandoval didn't waste time getting to work hours after being elected governor of Nevada.
The Republican reached out to state and federal officials from both major parties and made transition appointments that suggest a centrist, insider approach to the job.
That would contrast with departing Republican Jim Gibbons, who was praised by conservatives for his anti-tax zeal but criticized for his aloof approach to governing that alienated legislators and others across the political spectrum.
"It is my intention to work with everyone," said Sandoval, during an interview Wednesday. "I think that is the strength of Nevada, the fact it is a small state and the elected officials do see one another quite often and do work together very closely. And that is what I intend to do."
Sandoval's decisions Wednesday, which he began making about 12 hours after defeating Democrat Rory Reid in all 17 counties, included appointing former Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno, to direct his transition team. Dale Erquiaga, former R&R Partners vice president and former Clark County School District lobbyist, will help her.
Gansert spent six years on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee and is the daughter of Leo Seevers, a former member of the Nevada Economic Forum, the group that makes official revenue projections that are the basis for state budgets.
Gansert, who said she would consider a full-time job with the Sandoval administration, said her background makes her a natural for helping the incoming governor cope with a budget cycle that could start with revenue projections falling as much as $3 billion short of forecast expenses for the 2011-13 budget cycle.
"I am a numbers person," Gansert said, adding she thinks Sandoval is realistic in expecting that he can base a budget on $5.2 billion in general fund spending, about 20 percent less than the previous biennial budget.
"He has talked about going back to 2007 as a benchmark year, which makes sense," she said.
Erquiaga, who works as a managerial consultant to public agencies and businesses in Nevada and Arizona, specializes in strategic planning and leadership development. He did not return a call for comment.
Erquiaga worked for the Clark County School District from September 2009 until last month, and his history includes a role crafting a law credited with advancing gay rights during the administration of the late Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican and mentor to Sandoval.
Erquiaga, while working at R&R Partners, was credited with writing a draft of SB386, which solidified the hospital visitation rights of unmarried, cohabiting couples.
A 2003 article in the now-defunct Las Vegas Mercury detailed how Erquiaga crafted the legislation in a way that focused on legal issues that could affect any couples and avoided having the issue come down to a matter of gay rights, which would have been controversial.
"We didn't want it to be just a gay rights issue," Erquiaga told the Mercury. Erquiaga, who is gay, wrote the original draft of SB386. "By not having gay rights activists testify (at hearings), legislators could focus on the human rights issues. So it wasn't offensive to those who don't want gay-related legislation."
The bill passed with the support of Democrats and Republicans.
Erquiaga was the subject of recent criticism by the conservative think tank Nevada Policy Research Institute.
As a consultant in 2008, he received $84,000 plus expenses from the Clark County School District for providing a program "to describe the personality types of School Board members in blue, green, red or yellow colors," the think tank reported.
The program was included in the group's 2010 "Nevada Piglet Book" as an example of wasteful government spending.
In addition to the appointments, Sandoval reached out to Republican and Democratic legislative leaders, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., GOP Congressman-elect Joe Heck, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and the state's constitutional officers.
The new governor will need all of the help he can get if he intends to balance the budget without breaking his promise not to increase taxes.
Democrats and Republicans who have grappled with the state budget in the past say it will be a difficult task.
"There is a lot of campaign rhetoric that takes place; his next function is to adopt an executive budget," said state Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno. "If some of the cuts to human services or public safety or education are Draconian and can't be sustained, then we're going to have to talk about other things."
Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, refrained from making recommendations for Sandoval's upcoming budget proposal, saying he wants to see the numbers first.
"It is the governor's job to present the Legislature with a budget," Horsford said. "I will comment on it at that time."
Fred Lokken, a professor of political science at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, said Sandoval is wise to reach out to members of both major parties at the outset of his tenure.
Democrats have majorities in both houses of the Legislature, but they don't have enough votes to override gubernatorial vetoes or raise taxes.
And Sandoval does not have enough Republicans in the Legislature to push through laws without help from Democrats.
"Actually, I would say Democrats and Republicans and independents should be saluting him for what looks like a good start in terms of the kind of politics we need," Lokken said.
With making governing decisions, Sandoval is making personal choices. He said he plans to move with his wife, Kathleen, and three children from their Reno home to the Governor's Mansion in Carson City.
He said that his wife will keep her job at the Children's Cabinet nonprofit organization in Reno and that his children will remain at their current schools for the time being.
He plans to take a couple days off to spend time with his family but will be skipping the post-Election Day vacation he had been hoping for.
"That is really not going to happen," he said.
Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.
